Part of Lesson Plan: How to properly select an SAE program.

Activity Overview / Details

Get a soda bottle and a ping pong ball. Set the ping pong ball on top of the soda bottle. Put it on the edge of the table where students can easily access it. Explain that their goal is to run by the bottle and flick the ball off the bottle without breaking stride and/or knocking the bottle over. After explaining the directions, ask for volunteers. Give every volunteer a chance to do this activity- correcting them as they go. For example, they cannot slow down and must only "flick" it using their index and middle fingers. Very few, if anyone, should be able to do this activity successfully. Once completed, walk through a set of processing questions. Examples might include the following: -For volunteers, why did you do this activity?-What kept you from being successful?-How could this be changed to help you be more successful?-For non volunteers, what kept you from participating in this activity? Should get to: Couldn't see it anymore when running, couldn't plan, couldn't adjust or change the rules, wasn't interested in volunteering. Transition to: As with this activity, we're most successful with SAEs when we are first interested, know what we are up against for obstacles and requirements and then keep our goals in sight. Today we'll be taking one step closer to creating a larger SAE plan that will guide us through the next few years. During this period we will be examining what interests us about SAEs and what resources we have to use for creating a quality SAE.